Establish, Thesis, Topic, Conclude: Strong Essays

An Establishing Statement. This allows you to demonstrate your personal understanding of the module, and because it focuses on the module rather than on the question (we’re getting to that) you can prepare it in advance. This gives you something to write so that you’re not staring at a blank exam booklet or computer screen for too long. This should be the very first sentence in your essay and it should include key words from the rubric but also have a personal twist to show that you’ve thought about the key ideas in the rubric and gone further with them. A pithy quote can often make a good establishing statement. For example,

“Part of the beauty of literature,” argued F. Scott Fitzgerald, is that “you discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”

I like this one because it’s about belonging through textual engagement, which, as an English teacher, is my favourite way to belong.

Thesis statement. This is your one-sentence answer to the question. A lot of essay questions will give you a thesis statement, others will give you more space to argue your specific interpretation. It should include key words from the question and appear early in your introduction. The thesis should be something arguable but it should be stated as if it is fact.

This question gives you a thesis statement:

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging’

This one gives you space to write your own:

Explore how perceptions of belonging and not belonging can be influenced by connections to places.

Topic sentences. A topic sentence is a mini-thesis statement. It should support your thesis the same way that a beautiful corinthian column supports the pediment of a Greek temple: with elegance. It should be concept based rather than focused on a specific text or composer; this will allow you to write integrated paragraphs. Taking the above thesis here are some topic sentences:

1. An individual’s interaction with others can enrich their experience of belonging.

2. An individual’s interaction with the world around them may also enrich their experience of belonging.

3. However, negative interactions with the world and others can limit an individual’s experience of belonging.

These are obvious (and, to be honest, a little dull) however, they support the thesis, leave room for integration, and remind the marker that you’re answering the question. You may also notice that topic sentences 2 and 3 have linking words in them (also, however); this gives the essay flow and helps the argument to hang together. Without them, responses can sometimes read like three or four separate essays rather than a single sustained argument.

Concluding statements. Conclusions are the most difficult part of essay writing and, to make it even harder, they don’t just come at the end of a response. Each paragraph needs a concluding statement that explains how the evidence proffered supports the thesis. A popular way to begin is, “Thus it can be seen that…” however, I prefer something simpler such as a restatement, in different words, of the topic sentence. An example of a concluding statement for the first topic sentence above could be:

Through relationships, individuals find and nurture an enriched sense of identity.

When answering belonging essay questions that provide a thesis statement, such as ‘understanding nourishes belonging …a lack of understanding prevents it’ (2009 HSC), or ‘an individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging’, should I only discuss these thesis statements, or should I still include my own thesis statements about belonging that I have prepared.

The answer is both yes and no. Every paragraph of your essay must support your thesis; however, you should be able to shape your thesis statements to support your main thesis. For example, if one of your prepared theses is, “place shapes an individual’s perceptions of belonging” could be tweaked to “an understanding of place nourishes an individual’s sense of belonging” to fit the thesis.

Hi, after stating the thesis, how would one go about introducing the related texts? Could one say;
“This is seen in…”, something like that, because every time I try to write about more than one text it gets a bit messy and hard to follow.
Thanks

Hi Dave
I think that’s a solid structure. My little phrase is, these ideas are explored in…
Make sure you include the title, composer and text type for each text. Then, if you need to, you can add a sentence or two explaining how your texts relate to the thesis.
Mrs L.

Hi Mrs Langford,
My teachers have said it’s best to start off with the prescribed text, (mine is the Immigrant Chronicle by Peter Skrzynecki) but I was wondering how I would go about that with the essay ‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging’- Is it wrong if I start with negative experiences (i.e. limiting) before positive? It just feels out of order; Skrzynecki’s poems do not give an enriching experience kind of vibe…
Thank you so much!
Theresa

Hi Theresa
Your teacher is right, you should address your prescribed text first. It’s fine to address the elements of the question in a different order as long as you make sure that you address each element of the question somewhere in your response. So it would be ok to begin by explaining how interactions with the world can limit an individual’s experience of belonging and use examples from Skrzynecki before showing how interactions with others can enrich an individual’s experiences.
Mrs L.